street by car. if you are going up 270, get to clark burg, you have incredible rain fall. this is moving off to the north and east. here are some of the areas. thirsten at 7:08 and maybe a rangers woods at 7:14. so, this is going to have heavy rain and strong, gusty winds. perhaps small hail. it's moving off to the east, northeast at 20 miles per hour. get ready. on the east side of 270, it's coming your way. we'll work our way back to the south and the west because these are the storms we have been talking about. by about 8:00 or 9:00. leesburg southward back to middleburg and out route 7. this storm is headed toward woodburn at 7:14. you have had severe weather in loudoun county so far, and also ashburn junction at 7:28. so, these are the storms we are concerned about. the storms themselves are moving east, northeast at 20.

the whole line is moving eastward. we'll come back and tell you if these will roll through the area and remember, if severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 10:00 p.m., derek. >> thank you, topper. we have breaking news for you out of culpeper, virginia. a police officer now faces a charge of murder. the indictment came down just a short time ago. that officer was 32-year-old daniel harmon wright of gainesville and the murder indictment is connected to the shooting death of patricia cook. officer harmon shot and killed cook during an incident you'll remember from february. we have more coming your way on 9news now at 11:00. meantime, tonight police all over the d.c. area are bidding a fond farewell to the godfather of go-go, chuck brown. it started at 11:00 this morning down at the historic howard theater at northwest and tonight it's still going strong. it will be that way for another few hours. the cameras are not allowed inside the viewing, but his

family did release this photo. there they are, people paying respect to chuck brown. matt jablow is live where more and more folks are still showing up. matt. >> derek, it should come as no surprised to anybody that knows chuck brown. thousands of people has come to the viewing and the impromptu block party that chuck would very much have enjoyed. joining me now is ellis. thanks for joining us on a busy and emotional day. >> it sure has been. >> how many people exactly or roughly have been through the viewing today? >> well, from our count, 10,000 people have come through the doors of the howard theater to view chuck brown. we expect another close to 5,000 before the night is out. >> not surprising, as i was saying earlier, is that what you were expecting? >> new orleans. we were expecting somewhere around 15 to 20,000. it's going to meet that number

of 20,000. >> most people in washington know, as you well know, chuck has a will the of history at the howard theater. he was supposed to play here before he got sick. through the years, he has been here before. this place means a lot to him. >> it meant a lot to the people of washington. it is so great to see so many people coming from all parts of the city to the howard theater to come and pay their last respects to chuck. he loved this place. he grew up shining shoes in front of this historic theater as a ten-year-old. and i think one day wish to perform here. he got his wish. we just wish he could have obviously been in the new and improved howard theater to perform one more time. >> take off your developer hat and put on your washingtonian hat. what does this mean? the viewing, the block party outside, what does this mean to you? >> it's so moving. as a washingtonian, to see so many people coming out from all

parts of the city. all backgrounds. and young, old, very, very moving as a washingtonian. he was the pulse of this city. i mean, he will be gravely lost by many, many in this city from old, young, to class, middle class, upper class, to lower class people. all going to miss him. >> chip ellis, thanks very much. we appreciate your time. the viewing continues until 10:00. derek. >> all right, matt jablow, thanks to you as well. tonight's viewing does end at 10:00. you'll have another chance to pay your respects thursday at a public memorial service at the washington convention center. that gets started at noon and e we will broadcast it live on air and our website. a metro employee is in critical condition after being hit by a train and pinned underneath it for more than an

hour. this happened early this afternoon. this is a picture of what things looked like as rescue workers were trying to free that man who is a 25 year veteran employee at metro. a special shock trauma team of surgeons was flown in, he was taken to a level one trauma center. he is in serious condition and his injuries are potentially life threatening. metro is still investigating what happened. six metro employees have been killed while working on the track in the last seven years. we are learning more about yesterday's deadly midair collision between two planes over southern fauquier county. two people in one of those planes were killed. one was a pilot who was an ntsb employee and the passenger was an instructor. fire left little of their small plane. >> whoever was in that did not survive. >> never forget that sight, i imagine. >> never forget that, especially on memorial day. >> the pilot and the other plane was hurt, but survived.

he is from broad run, virginia, an accident investigator for the faa. the pilots were employees of the faa, the national transportation safety board has now asked canadian transportation officials to conduct their investigation. maryland's recently passed same-sex marriage law is going to be headed for a public vote in november. opponents to the law have submitted more than 113,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot. now that's more than double the 55,700 they needed. maryland state board of elections says they have 20 days to verify that those signatures are valid. if they are, the law will be on the november ballot. barring a bizarre upset, which isn't going to happen, mitt romney clinches a nomination for president tonight. the former massachusetts governor needs 58 delegates to wrap up the bid and 152 are up for grabs in today's texas

primary. rewards delegates for the number of votes candidate gets statewide. that means romney will need just 38% of the vote to win the nomination. he received at least 67% in the last four primaries. the latest polls show romney's next race, the one for the white house is still pretty much up for grabs. according to the daily tracking poll, 47% of registered voters would pick president obama. 45% would vote for romney. but that 2 point difference is within the poll's margin for error. speculation growing over who romney might pick as the vice presidential candidate, but virginia governor tells 9news now he is not being questioned or vetted by the romney campaign. and a one-on-one interview, he fully supported getting rail completed, but offered no specific way to make it happen. >> governor bob

mcdonaldcongratulateed the newly named health professions for creating new opportunities. as students practice their life support techniques, the largest project underway in northern virginia is on life support itself. the $2.6 billion phase 2 of the silver line from reston to dulles and two stops in loudoun is in limbo. yet the governor has no specific plan to get it on track. other than to pressure the air force authority board, which is building the rail line. >> we have to have more transparency and more accountability in the way the board acts so the virginia taxpayers are protected. most of the money to pay for that line is coming from toll players. >> the project labor preference gives a bonus to contractors. >> you are putting your preference on labor that will be more expensive than the free market to the contracting process. it is going to exacerbate.

i don't have any firm estimate. we can't have policies in place that violate virginia's right to work law. >> even though virginia committed that $150 million toward phase two of the silver line. that money can't go anywhere yet. thanks to a new law that passed in the last legislative session. it states no virginia money can go to projects with project labor agreement. loudoun county is also threatening to opt out of the project. >> but if loudoun says no, then we have a delay and the delay costs more? >> the preference? >> may or may not. i am encouraging, i think loudoun, fairfax. i'm encouraging all of them to stick with this. let's get this done. >> peggy fox, 9news now. >> the loudoun board has to make that decision by july 4. the governor says virginia has more time to put up its share. >> still to come, the navy and marines welcome a batch of offices of the class of 2012 graduates from the naval academy. but first, president obama hands down the nation's top

honor for civilians. some of the biggest names in music, sports, and politics.

former supreme court justice, john paul stevens, folk singer, bob dillon, and tony morrison, some of the luminaries who received the presidential medal of freedom. president obama led the ceremony at the white house today. the medal of freedom is the

highest civilian honor. >> what sets these men and women apart is the incredible impact they have had on so many people. not in short blinding bursts, but steadily over the course of a lifetime. >> among others receiving the award today, former secretary of state, madeleine albright, former astronaut, john glenn, and bill who helped lead the campaign to eradiate smallpox. maryland and a handful of other states are receiving a waiver from the federal no child left behind law. now exchanged for it, those states are promising to improve how students are prepared. applied for waivers, but they have yet to be granted them. trying to rewrite that no child left behind law. the storms, they just keep on coming. topper tells us what we'll be in the clear. the forecast is something do you don't want to miss. but first, a sneak peek behind the newest and biggest casino

in maryland. it is pretty darn fancy. we take you inside maryland live. a full week before you can go in and gamble. stay with us.

one week from tomorrow, the newest and largest casino will be open to the public. and when it does, more than 4700 slot machines will greet visitors live, but today, the new gambling and entertainment complex opened its doors for a sneak peek. scott broom got to take a look inside. >> opening night for the maryland live casino at arundel mills is set for june 6. it is a megacasino. when it's open, it will be the

nation's third largest. when maryland voters approved expanded gambling here in 2008, few imagined it would mean a megacasino. >> these are high limits blackjack tables. >> it took developer joseph nearly an hour to cover the place. larger than three football fields. yes, there are slots, but it's the electronic table games that are likely to surprise you. under sealed glass bubbles, the machines deal real cards from real decks. they tumble real dice and roll real balls on real wheels. dining will include brand names like cheesecake factory and the prime rib. there will be 4,000 new employees. all of it threatened weinberg suggests by new lobbying for a sixth maryland casino at national harbor and prince georges county. also, a proposed megaproject. >> to change the playing ground at this point is

tremendously unfair. it's inappropriate. we think it's beyond insane because this is already a saturated market. >> here's another fact for prospective. this place will be paying $400 million a year in state corporate income taxes. by far, the largest corporate taxpayer in the state. once its open. at arundel mills, scott broom, 9news now. out in annapolis today, the u.s. navy and marine corps picked up a thousand new officers. graduation day. the 2012 class of mid shipman at the academy. leon panetta gave the commencement address. >> there is no more honor anywhere than right here and as you leave here, carry that honor with you. defend it, fight for it, and yes, if necessary, die for it.

the honor is yours. now earn it. >> graduates received their commissions as officers. those entering the navy are officially absence. those headed for the marines carry the rank for second lieutenant. topper shutt is commander of the weather center. >> a little quieter now. we have the severe thunderstorm watch. right now, no thunderstorm warnings, but there are flash flood warnings. we aren't going be out of the woods for a while. we have a solid line rolling through. let's start with the watch. the watch was expanded. it now includes certainly the entire metro area. fairfax, montgomery, prince georges, charles, all the way down to fredericksburg and points north and west where it's been rough all afternoon and evening. we'll look at live doppler 9,000. we have a solid line of showers and storms from 70 all the way back through leesburg,

warrenton, and west of fredericksburg. this is the line of storms to go through the metro area. openfully you're home because we have been lucky inside the beltway. around town, well, not anymore. these storms are going to roll through in the next hour, hour and a half. we are looking at ashburn hitting 7:29. poolsville 7:45. crosses the river. and also over toward seneca at 7:50. this is a nasty storm. just north of rockville up 270. it's going to be slow going. rain fall rates 1, 1 1/2 inches per hour. they could produce some small hail and gusty winds. this particular storm is moving off to the east, northeast at 24. and so pretty good movement on these storms. bad news is, they had heavy rains. slide back to the south and to the west a little bit. heavy activity. as you cross 50 back toward the planes. and over toward ashburn. this is also moving off to the north and east. headed toward water fall at

7:39 and about 7:47. again, heavy, heavy rain. low visibility. remember if your windshields are on, your lights should be on as well. this is going to move. this might be some hail. see this little majenta? that's hail and probably some hail, too. as you go to the south of 257. dulles toll road. so a big storm, the very least, very, very heavy rain fall. all right, let's talk about what it looks like outside. downtown it's nice. we haven't had any problems downtown. brought to you by michael and son. it's still 86. high was 91. winds south, southwest at 15. pressure falling at 29.75 inches of mercury. temperatures, 86 downtown. 82 in bethesda. 73 now in gaithersburg. 70 in leesburg. 87 in college park. storms haven't hit you yet. they will in the next couple of hours. all right. we are on storm alert. heavy or severe thunderstorms

possible. not as hot wednesday. a few storms are possible on wednesday. the front does not go through until tomorrow evening and cooler on thursday and also on friday. all right, next seven days look like this. after we get through storms tomorrow, very nice on thursday. there's the best day of the week. sunshine, temperatures around 80. friday is okay, but maybe a shower. nats hosting the braves. friday, saturday, sunday. temperatures, very nice. 76 on saturday, maybe a morning shower. 81 on sunday. and heating up next week. >> we aren't scared of braves. in brave land. we'll be back in a moment. we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mail bag. the address, mailbag@wusa9k. 9news now will be right back.

in the mail bag tonight, reaction to a story we did last week on janny summers who passed away at the age of more than 100 years old, but whose family complained that a city program that foots the bill for funeral services for low income folks was not coming through for them for various reasons. he doesn't mean to be insensitive, but why is the government's responsibility to pay for anybody's funeral?

i disagree except for our military/police/fire. this is another typical situation where people expect for the government to pay for things that they should be taking care of. you know what, pete, i feel you on this, but keep this in mind, that program in d.c. does exist. somebody who spent so much time of their long life in this town surely would be eligible for it, but she wasn't for various reasons. then there was this who says america's real political problem is political party. from the beginning of this country, a number of the founding fathers, including george washington himself for completely opposed to political parties as devicive. how about making eligibility dependent on being independent. there are also people suffering because parties become so weak and no longer force compromise that be -- finally this from

dave in sprifng field, memorial day honored those. i heard on tv and radio that we should pay tribute to our veterans. memorial day is for those who have given everything. david, thank you. important point. we appreciate that. appreciate all your e-mails. mailbag@wusa9.com. i'll be right back here at 11:00. we'll see you then. bye bye.

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